She is having a major flare and her drs office is closed, she has already taken the max dosage of her methocarbamol. Is there anything anyone can suggest to help her release the muscles at the base of her brain stem, that doesn't require additional medication or an ER trip?

What happen was, our movers failed to show up this past Sunday, so we ended up having to move an entire apartment full of heavy furniture ourselves. She is sitting in a hot tub right now and it isn’t really doing much to relieve the pain. Any suggestions are highly appreciated and thank you in advance to all who reply.

If you have some rice and a tube sock, you can make a rice bag for her. Fill the sock 2/3 full of regular rice...not instant. Tie a knot at the end and voila! a rice bag! Stick it in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes on high...stopping halfway to turn it over and squish it. Drape it on her dry neck. It will hold moist heat for about a half an hour and should feel very good to her. (Do not moisten this or you will have cooked rice! LOL There is moisture in the rice that it gives off. This can be used over and over again.)

If you are close to a Walgreens, they have something called a Bed Buddy that is like the rice bag. It is filled with beans, though. So, that's another option.

Also, try doing a gentle massage from the bottom of the skull up to the top of her head. The muscles are very tight there to be causing this pain. I used to have a massage therapist do this for me.

Call the pharmacy and tell them what she takes for medication and see if she can have Tylenol or ibuprofen to help cut through it. These may not help her but they do help me.

I hope some of this will help you and tell her I hope she is feeling much better soon.

Hi. When I get those awful neck/back of the head spasms, massage often helps me. Sometimes the pain actually originates lower (in the neck, shoulders, or back), and it helps to try to massage all of those areas.

Also, a lot of people with fibro are sensitive to cold, but sometimes an ice pack on the back of my head helps. Other times I will try a heating pad. The ice pack seems to help more if the pain wraps around my head, and the heating pad is more effective for me if the pain is centered more in my neck.

The rice pack is a GREAT idea. My daughter makes these using flannel or fleece. They do last a long time and I have found them really helpful. She calls them "rice toasties". Both her daughters (Teens) deal with pain too and they love them!! Let us know if they work. God Bless!

I would've suggested a moist heating pad, but the rice bags sound just as good.Maybe a relaxing massage from you.Let her know she in my thoughts and prayers...Lots of soft hugz......********************************************************************************************************************************************************** * Asthma, Allergies, Osteoarthritis, Spinal Stenosis, Degenative Disc, Fibromyalgia, Gerd, Enlarged Pituitary Gland **** "We could never learnto be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world" from Helen Keller

I thank all of you for the great idea's, the rice pack sounds like a creative idea too, we will have to try that sometime. She is doing a lot better than she had been earlier, I've given her a massage and we went to CVS for some icey hot patches after I posted.